A fishing lure is provided that comprises a modified line attachment clip allowing partial release and reorientation of the lure from the line when the lure becomes snagged.
Fishing as a sport, hobby and even national past-time is important enough that millions of dollars every year are spent by its participants for developments and innovations in an effort to improve their results and reduce the need for embellishment of xe2x80x9cfish talesxe2x80x9d. A common problem experienced by fishermen, from novices to experts, is the snagging of lures and lines on seen and unseen hazards. This problem is and will always be of great concern because, often, the best fishing locations are found amongst fallen tree limbs, weeds and plant life, which are also the most frequent source of snagged lines and lures.
In a sport such as fishing, wherein the psychology and emotional element is significant and superstitions about lucky lures or fishing locations are common, the snagging and loss of a favorite lure or reluctance to fish in a good spot because of the risk of snagging a favorite lure can, at least in the mind of the fisherman himself, greatly affect his ability and success. In addition, as the design and technology in fishing equipment have evolved, specifically the use of specialized lures, the most effective lures have become quite expensive. Thus, a fisherman encountering a snag and loss of a particularly effective lure will obviously be dejected at the loss of the lure, but he will also feel the loss in his wallet if the lure was an expensive one.
The problem of snagged lines and lost lures is not new, and there have been many attempted solutions to the problem. In the vast majority of the prior art snag release apparatuses, a weighted device, connected to a second line and pole used by the fisherman, is clipped onto the snagged line. The weighted device then travels along the snagged line until it engages and strikes the lure and/or hook that is snagged. If successful, the weighted device knocks the lure and/or hook free from the snag so that the fisherman can retract both lines, along with the weighted device and snagged lure. Examples of such weighted snag release devices can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 520,052 to Hirschmann; U.S. Pat. No. 892,730 to Immel; U.S. Pat. No. 2,316,500 to Bray; U.S. Pat. No. 2,494,012 to Stricker; U.S. Pat. No. 2,586,073 to McKee; as well as a large number of other similarly functioning devices.
There are a number of disadvantages with the snag release devices disclosed in the prior art, however. First, they require additional equipment (another pole, line, and the weighted device itself) and they depend upon gravity to accelerate the weighted device downwardly sufficiently to knock the snagged lure and/or line free from the snag. Obviously such devices will be more effective when the snagged line is generally vertical; when the snagged line is horizontal, gravity will not accelerate the weight toward the snag, and the chances that the snag will be released are diminished. Secondly, the prior art weighted devices often do not work for any of various reasons (e.g. the snagged line is horizontal and the weight doesn""t knock it loose or the snag is just too elaborate to easily free the snagged line). In those cases, the fisherman that drops a weighted snag releasor to retrieve his lure may very well be throwing good money after bad, because in many cases the weighted snag releasor itself becomes entangled and cannot be extricated.
The present invention seeks to simplify the process for releasing a snagged lure by incorporating within the lure itself means for releasing part of the lure from the fishing line so that the lure is reoriented and the fisherman""s pulling force on the line is reversed so that the hook and lure are pulled in the opposite direction out of the snag. As will be discussed in more detail herein, the snag release provisions of the present invention have the benefits discussed herein because the attachment of the fishing line to the lure at two separate points wherein one point of attachment is releasable upon application of sufficient force on the fishing line.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,447,828 to Hanson, a device is disclosed that retrieves tackle that has been snagged. The ""828 patent is not itself a fishing device; instead it uses a heavy rope or cable 10 and another length of rope or cable to bridge the two points of attachment to the device.
The ""828 patent includes, significantly, a spring loaded rod 13 which, when sufficient force is applied along the line 10, the rod 13 moves so that the rod end 13a moves to allow disengagement of the hook end 24. Thus, the hooks 27 may be flipped so that they can be extricated from the snag.
The present invention differs from the ""828 device in a number of significant and unobvious ways. First, the present invention is a fishing lure with snag release provisions unlike the ""828 device which does not use fishing line and does not, itself, provide a device for catching fish.
Second, the principles of the present invention are applicable to make virtually any lure a snag free lure because releasability of the line from one of two points is achieved as a result of the design of the modified line attachment clip. The present invention does not require the use of a complex, spring loaded releasing rod and plunger arrangement. Instead, any lure with attachment eyelets at both ends may be used with the modified line attachment clip of the present invention to provide a lure that is releasable upon being snagged.
Third, the present invention incorporates the use of a heavy gauge, rigid lead wire extending between the two points of attachment to the lure. The design of the leader is intentional so that, when the line is attached at both ends of the lure, as discussed in more detail herein, the lure behaves underwater as a standard lure having only one point of attachment to the line. Once released, however, the leader acts as an extension of the fishing line, allowing the lure to be inverted to remove itself from the snag.
The present invention provides an efficient and easily applied solution to make fishing lures releasable from snags, without impacting the lure""s effectiveness.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a means for releasing snagged fishing lures and lines from underwater obstructions without requiring a second line or weight to knock the snagged lure free.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a general snag release system applicable to fishing lures requiring only minor modifications.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a simplified snag release system utilizing a line attachment clip having a resilient, releasable leg that is released only upon application of sufficient force.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a snag release system utilizing attachment of the fishing line to both opposed ends of a lure wherein the attachment at one end is releasable.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a fishing lure having snag release provisions that do not affect the performance of the lure in ordinary use.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a snag free fishing lure that has a simple release mechanism allowing the lure to be reoriented to be inverted so that when force is applied of sufficient magnitude, the force will pull the hook attached to the lure in the opposite direction.
These and other objects of the present invention are satisfied by the preferred embodiment of the invention described in more detail herein. These objects are meant to be illustrative and not limiting. The manner of operation, novel features and further objects and advantages of this invention may be better understood by reference to the description and drawings set forth herein.
The present invention is a snag releasable system for attaching a fishing line to a lure. It comprises a lure having two opposed ends and means for attaching the line to both of the opposed ends. The present invention is particularly advantageous in that the means for attaching the line is releasable.
The fishing lure of the present invention has, as its two opposed ends, a head end and a hook end, the hook end comprising a hook being permanently affixed to a tail end of a fish decoy. A head eyelet is secured to the head end of the fish decoy, and a hook eyelet is affixed to a hook extension attached to the hook opposite the hook""s affixation to the fish decoy.
A line attachment clip is provided in accordance with the principles of the present invention that is a unitary element having three connection loops, two of which are permanently closed and the third of which is releasable. A first closed loop, a line loop, provides the means for a length of fishing line to be attached. A rigid, heavy gauge leader is secured between a second closed loop of the line attachment clip, a leader loop, and the hook eyelet. A third connection loop comprising a resilient, releasable leg of the line attachment clip extends between a fixed connection to the base of the line attachment clip and the leader loop, but there is only contact and no physical attachment of the resilient, releasable leg to the leader loop, such that it remains releasable. The head eyelet of the lure engages and is held on the resilient, releasable leg until sufficient force is applied to the line to cause the head eyelet to snap off and be released from the resilient, releasable leg. Once that occurs, application of force on the fishing line causes the lure to flip about the hook eyelet and change its orientation so that further application of force to the line pulls the hook in the opposite direction, out of the snag.